Catalan Literary Masters: Maragall, Oller, and Víctor Català

Key Figures in Catalan Modernism and Realism

Joan Maragall (1860-1911): Modernist Poetry and Commitment

Joan Maragall (1860-1911) was one of the most representative writers of Catalan Modernism. His work brings together two distinct attitudes of modernist artists:

• The Aesthetic Attitude: Expressed in the poetic contemplation of nature.
• The Regenerationist Attitude: Expressed in the vitality of his poetry and social commitment found in his articles.

Catalan Modernism (1892-1911)

Modernism (1892-1911) was a movement of cultural renewal in response to the need to transform Catalan culture into a modern, national, and European culture. It aimed to ensure that art was present in all artistic fields. It is a cultural movement of a romantic character produced in the West at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth.

Víctor Català (Caterina Albert, 1869-1966)

Víctor Català is the pseudonym of the writer Caterina Albert (1869-1966).

Her most important work was *Solitud* (Solitude), though the original text refers to it as "dandy." The work is characterized by:

• A rural environment setting.
• A female protagonist who marries a lazy man dedicated to caring for a chapel.
• Her meeting with a farmer who helps her discover nature.

Narcís Oller (1846-1930): Realism and Naturalism

Narcís Oller (1846-1930) was the most important novelist of 19th-century Catalan literature. His works are part of Realism, even while maintaining characteristic elements of Romanticism.

Defining Literary Realism

Realism is an artistic trend that emerged throughout the nineteenth century, characterized by the desire to represent the author's immediate reality and portray it objectively.

Major Works by Narcís Oller

The Butterfly (1882)

Tells the story of a lower-class girl from an orphanage who is seduced by a wealthy man. She has his son, but he refuses to acknowledge them. Abandoned and without resources, she suffers a nervous imbalance that causes her death. (The work contains both realistic and romantic elements.)

L'Escanyapobres (The Miser)

This is the case of a very avaricious person who is unable to adapt to industrial progress and the new economy because their biological inheritance prevents it.

La Bogeria (Madness)

This is the case of a young man who goes mad. Narcís Oller suggested that society makes him mad, while others argued that his madness was predetermined by the laws of inheritance.

La Febre d'Or (The Gold Rush) (1890-1892)

Shows the world of the bourgeoisie in Barcelona at the end of the 19th century. It tells the story of a carpenter who rapidly becomes rich thanks to his investments in the stock market.